First a Mermaid, Now a Slayer
by MiLady TARDIS
Summary: Charlotte wasn't meant to be a mermaid, she was born to be a Slayer.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note : I always thought that Charlotte needed a second chance, seeing as they kind of turned her into something of a cartoon villian towards the end. And since I've been on this really long Buffy kick, I figured I'd make her a Slayer. Takes place during the last episode of Buffy, and between season two and three of H2O. Also, this is my first attempt at a multi-chaptered story, so tell me if I need to fix something.

Disclaimer : I own neither H2O or Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Charlotte Watsford walked through her school, her head hung. It had been a few weeks since the... incident at Mako Island, and even now, she still felt ashamed of herself. She had been given a wonderful gift, but, just like her grandmother, she had thrown it all away. But Charlotte had tried to salvage what little dignity she had and move on. She threw herself into her art, mostly aquatic themed, painting everything that she had seen while swimming underwater.

She looked up, only to see Rikki, Cleo, and Emma walking toward her, talking amongst themselves. She had indirectly apologized to them, through Lewis of course, but since then, they had not spoken to one another. So far, Charlotte had managed to do a good job of dodging the trio, trying as hard as she could to avoid a confrontation between the three, particularly with Rikki, but now they werer headed right toward her. Charlotte quickly looked around for a place to hide, and ducked into a broom closet, shutting the door just as the three girls passed.

For a few minutes, Charlotte sat in the dark, her back pressed against the door as she waited. One day, she hoped she'd find the courage to actually look the three in the eyes, but for now, it seemed like hiding in a maintenance closet was the way to go.

When she figured it was safe, she stood up and went to open the door. She jiggled the doorknob, but it refused to budge. Somehow, when she had shut the door, it had locked behind her.

"Great," Charlotte murmured. She knocked on the door for a few minutes, calling out for help, but no one answered, and eventually, she gave up. Charlotte went to her bag, rooting through it for her cell phone, but to her dismay, it wasn't there.

"Hello?!" she screamed again at the door, "Is there anyone out there?!" Charlotte rested her forehead against the wood, half-heartedly twisting the knob. If she still had her powers, she could've blasted off the door with a gust of wind, or frozen the handle enough to be able to shatter it. A tear of not only sadness but regret slipped down her cheek, which Charlotte wiped away. She slid down to the floor, her head buried in her knees.

Suddenly, she felt something... bloom inside her. It was hard to describe, but it was kind of like when she had first found herself in the Moon Pool, changing into something different altogether. Like magic was flowing into her, and she felt stronger now. Charlotte slowly stood up, her hand reaching for the handle. She grabbed hold of it, and in one move, wrenched the entire thing free, leaving a hole in the door, and the knob free in her hand. Almost comically, she pushed the door open, her jaw dropped. Just that morning, she had had trouble opening a jar of peanut butter, and now the handle in her hand was bent like paper.

"How did I do that?" she murmured, dropping the metal. For the second time in her life, something strange happened to Charlotte Watsford, and there was only one person she knew who had experience with strange stuff. Charlotte grabbed her bookbag and went to find Lewis.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlotte walked as fast as she could to the JuiceNet Cafe, one of the few places she was sure Lewis would be. As she walked, she began to wonder if she was going crazy. There was no way that someone like her could've done... whatever is that she did.

But she had, Charlotte reminded herself. Where had that burst of strength come from? She had read about times when people in great times of stress had been able to do things that seemed impossible, maybe that had been it. But her heart told her it was something more, something magical. Something that she had missed more than anything.

Charlotte ran faster, easily sidestepping people and bikers. She didn't feel out of breath, and her reflexes at getting out of the way much easier than what it used to be. Maybe what was going on wasn't so bad. A smile crept over Charlotte's mouth as the Cafe came into view.

When she finally reached the Cafe, Charlotte quickly looked around for Lewis. Fortunately, she saw sitting in the corner booth. _Un_fortunately, he was in the company of Cleo, Emma, and Rikki. Her breath caught and she hastily stood by the counter, hiding her face behind her long auburn hair. Should she still go over there, risking a confrontation between the three mermaids? Jitters ran through her, and she gripped the counter in an effort to steady herself. As discreetly as she could, Charlotte looked over to the group as they laughed and conversed, and Charlotte felt so alone. It had been hard enough when she first moved to the town, in fact, Cleo had been the very first person she had actually really spoken to. But then she had gone all power-crazy, and she just alienated herself more... Charlotte shook her head to clear her thoughts.

A hand suddenly fell on her shoulder. Without even thinking, she grabbed the hand, and before she knew it, Charlotte had bent the person's arm behind their back, and slammed him against the counter.

It took Charlotte a second for her to register that the entire cafe had gone quiet, and that everyone was staring at her.

"Charlotte? What are you doing?"

She looked down, and to her horror, she realized that the person who she had just attacked was in fact Lewis.

"Oh, god," she stammered, "Lewis, I.. I am so sorry."

She released his arm, and backed away, mortified at what she had done. To make it worse, Rikki, Emma, and Cleo were quickly right there. Emma and Cleo were helping Lewis, but Charlotte's gaze was focused on Rikki, who was angrily standing in front of her.

"What is your problem?" She demanded angrily. "Why can't you just let it go?"

"Rikki," she pleaded, "Please, I didn't-"

"Just save it, Charlotte," the blonde girl spat.

Before Charlotte could defend herself, Cleo piped up, "Rikki, I think Lewis's arm is broken, we need to get him to a hospital."

Around the cafe, murmurs began to circulate, and Charlotte felt like a bug under a microscope. Everyone was staring at her like she was a giant freak, and she supposed she was.

"I... I got to go," Charlotte murmured. She backed up and walked out the door, her head hung.

In the cafe, Emma looked at Rikki with irritation. "Rikki," she began as the rest of the crowd began to drift back to their conversations. "You didn't have to be so harsh."

The trio began walking out with Lewis, who was cradling his arm, Cleo doting on him.

"I'm pretty sure it was an accident," he said, wincing a little, "I mean, I did kinda sneak up on her."

"Whatever," Rikki scoffed, clearly not convinced. It was no secret that she had never liked Charlotte, and what had just happened was not earning her any brownie points.

"Guys?" Cleo pipped up, "Maybe we should just focus on getting Lewis to the hospital for right now, we can deal with Charlotte later."

"Good," Rikki muttured. Something was going on, and she didn't like it.

That's the end of Chapter Two, tell me what you think!


	3. Count to Ten

Author's Note : I am so sorry that's been so long, but I honestly couldn't think of a proper third chapter. I had four different chapters and ways for it to go, but I finally settled on this one. I also should mention that while I never actually read the comics, I managed to see the motion comic for the first ten or so. This story takes place before that though, when they are still gathering the new Slayers around the world. If you have any information that you think I should know, please tell me. Thank you!

Charlotte stood on the beach, looking out over the ocean, her paintbrush poised over her paper. The nearly-full moon shone down on the waves, creating a beautiful scene that she just had to get down. It had been a couple days since she accidentally broken Lewis's arm, and Charlotte had locked herself in her room for the remainder of the weekend, refusing to see anyone. Instead, she had spent the days researching what on Earth could've possibly caused whatever had happened to her, but nothing had really come up. Her first thought was, of course, Mako Island, but she hadn't been there since the incident with the three other mermaids, and she was sure that if she even got within spitting distance of the island, they would all kick her butt all the way to Sidney.

Actually, she thought with a slight chuckle, if she even thought of going to their place, the three would probably just conjour up a gale to fly her all the way there.

She sighed, and stepped in the water, letting the waves lap at her feet. The instinct to jump in hadn't quite left her yet, and even now, she found herself counting. It hurt her heart, but she couldn't stop herself.

One... two...

The hairs on the back of Charlotte's neck prickled, like someone was watching her.

Three... four... five...

She looked around, but there wasn't anyone there. A little ways down, a couple walked together, but even from that distance Charlotte could hear the girl's drunken giggles.

Six... seven...

Her skin was crawling with anticipaton, but with what, she wasn't sure. Charlotte looked up at the moon, hoping for some kind of direction. What was she supposed to do?

_Run_

Eight...

An ear-splitting scream rang out, before being suddenly cut off. Without even dropping her paintbrush, Charlotte took off in the direction of the couple. As she got closer, she saw the blonde girl passed out in the sand, and the man was leaning over her, his face buried in her neck.

Nine...

"Get away from her!" Charlotte screamed, lifting her foot up and kicking him away. The girl jumped up and ran away, while the man fell back with a slight thump on the sand. At the sight of his appearance Charlotte had to stifle a gasp.

Ten

The man, creature, demon, whatever it was, had a twisted face, with ridges and sharp teeth. It was the single most terrifying thing she he had ever seen. Blood dripped down from his mouth and for a minute, Charlotte felt her heart stop. But she needed it dead, it didn't belong in this world. The thing attacked her, pinning her to the ground.

Now, Charlotte didn't have any fight training, but the second he landed on top of her, Charlotte knew exactly what to do. With all her might she brought her head up to hit him square in the forehead, and while he was dazed, she took the opportunity to push him off. She quickly jumped up and took a stance, ready to fight him. After the week she had, Charlotte felt the need to hurt something.

"A Slayer, huh?" The thing sneered at Charlotte. "Good. I've always wanted to kill one."

For a minute, Charlotte relaxed her posture, confused. What was a Slayer, and why did he want to kill her?

"I'm not... I'm not a Slayer. I don't know what you're talking about," Charlotte stammered. "What the hell are you?"

Her attacker didn't answer, instead, he took advantage of her hesitation and lunged. Her attention snapped back and Charlotte got out of the way just in time. She quickly kicked him at the base of his spine, thankful that she was actually wearing shorts, and wrenched his arm behind his back.

"Stake him!"

Charlotte looked behind her, and a red-haired girl running toward her. Charlotte didn't think about how silly that demand sounded, she just acted. Her forgotten paintbrush lay right next to them, quickly, she grabbed it and jammed the brush into her foe's back.

Of all the things Charlotte expected when she woke up this morning, turning a man into dust was certainly not one of them.

Her mouth dropped open as she remained kneeling in the sand, right where her attacker had just been laid out. This... whatever it was, could not be happening. Had she just killed someone? Was this a dream? She pinched herself, groaning in pain just as the girl finally caught up, kneeling down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulder.

"It's okay, you're okay."

Charlotte looked at the ginger in confusion, because how could it be? Either she was a murderer or she had finally cracked and went insane. For the second time in her life, everything she knew had been flipped upside down.

The girl gently took her arm and slowly stood her up. Charlotte's legs felt like jelly, and it was hard to stay still.

"What's your name?" The red-head asked.

"C-Charlotte. Please, what is going on?" she begged desperately. "Who are you?"

"My name's Willow, and I've got a lot to tell you."

Sorry that the fight was a little lackluster, but to be honest I'm not that good at writing fight scenes :) Don't worry, it won't happen all that often. I'll be quicker with the chapters this time, I promise.


	4. Ex-Mermaid Meets a Scooby

Charlotte was absolutely positive that she had had a nightmare.

When she woke up the next morning, safe and sound in her bed, still in her clothes from the day before, she convinced herself that nothing from the previous night had happened. She had not killed someone; she had not met a red-haired girl on the beach; in fact, Charlotte tried to convince herself that she had not left the house at all. Besides, if she had killed someone, surely she would've felt guilt or something, right? But she didn't feel anything.

She took a shower anyway, and threw the outfit in the trash.

In her bedroom, Charlotte heard her alarm go off.

'Oh, right,' she thought grimly, 'School.'

Charlotte had been dreading Monday all weekend. She knew that by now word had spread about what she did at the cafe, and she could only imagine what everyone was saying about her. It made her shudder a little,

"I could skip..." Charlotte muttered as she got dressed. She toyed with the idea for a while, it wasn't like her mother would notice, what with her being off on another business trip, but she ultimately decided against it. Delaying the inevitable would only make things worse, and she refused to come off as more of a coward. If she saw Lewis, she would apologize, and if the others had something to say, she would put up with it.

Once she was dressed, Charlotte went downstairs, only to hear a clattering at her back door. She quickly rushed over, only to see concrete evidence that she hadn't been dreaming: The same ginger girl from the night before was struggling to keep the door open while carrying in Charlotte's easel, the one that she had left on the beach. For a second, Charlotte couldn't move, feeling all of her hopes shatter into a million little pieces, and unfortunately, those few seconds was all it took for the girl to notice her.

"Oh, hi, Charlotte," the girl called cheerily, finally getting through the door and setting the easel down. What was her name again? W... something. "Glad to see you up, finally. I hope you don't mind, I went back and grabbed your painting, it really is very good, and I figured you wouldn't want it to be taken by the water..."

Her fast and nervous speech was not lost on Charlotte, who was still trying to piece everything together. She wanted answers, and this ginger girl, who was apparently _not _a figment of Charlotte's imagination, must've had them.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte quickly interrupted, taking the girl by the arm and dragging her outside by the pool. She didn't fight back or try to break away, in fact, when Charlotte let go of her, the girl just followed her anyway. Once they were far enough from her house, she demanded, "Now, who are you? How did you find my house?"

"My name's Willow, Charlotte. We met last night?"

"Yeah, last night. That's right, I remember. You told me to... stake that man last night." Charlotte shuddered. "And I did. Oh god, I killed someone. He disentergrated. How did that happen?" The reality of what she had done washed over her, and she felt her legs give out from under her. The strange thing was, deep down she didn't feel guilty. But she knew she should be. Charlotte sat down in a lawn chair, trying to make sense of the world.

Willow knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know how else to put this, but Charlotte, he was a vampire."

"That's not possible, they can't be real."

Mermaids weren't supposed to be real either, though, she reminded herself, why not vampires? Charlotte herself had swum down where scuba divers couldn't, influenced the weather, made water move, freeze, and boil. Why had she never considered the fact that maybe there was more in the world? Magic was real. Mermaids were real. Why not vampires?

"I'm sorry, but you staked a vampire. You saved that girl last night."

Charlotte shook her head, not liking where this was headed.

"Charlotte, you're a vampire Slayer."

There was that word again. Slayer. It was a primitive, violent word, adjectives that no longer applied to Charlotte. "That... that isn't possible," She stood, looking at Willow in disbelief, "Look, you seem very nice, but I'm not going around killing things."

Charlotte wandered back to the kitchen, picking up her bookbag. When she walked out her back door, locking it behind her, Willow was still there, waiting, a regretful look on her face.

"Charlotte," she began, "I'm sorry, I'm not that good at this, I should've have told you another way. But you're meant to fight them-"

Charlotte didn't even stop, instead walking right past her, intent on getting away. But Willow, undetered, followed. "I can't fight them," she muttered, "I'm nothing special."

"Yes you are. Look, few days ago, did you suddenly become very strong? For no reason whatsoever?"

That got Charlotte's attention. She stopped walking, sharply turning and facing Willow.

"How did you know about that?" she hissed, "Is this a joke? Did Rikki put you up to this?"

"It's not a joke, I swear. I've been dealing with this kind of stuff for a long time. I know what's going on, just let me explain." Willow's brown eyes pleaded with her to listen. Charlotte checked her watch. School started in forty minutes, and if she wanted to get there on time, she needed to leave, now. She didn't know if this American girl was telling the truth or not, but she seemed to have some answers.

"Can you tell me on the way to school?"

Willow nodded, relieved that she would listen. "Okay, so about eight years ago, I met this girl, Buffy..."


	5. It Isn't Over

This chapter is a tad shorter, but I thought we should have something from the other's point of view. Enjoy  
"Rikki, could you please stop doing that?"

The blonde girl didn't even bother to look back at her friend. "I'm not doing anything, Emma," she replied innocently, but she kept on looking around the school grounds.

Emma rolled her eyes, but Cleo was the one who responded. "You've been waiting for Charlotte to walk across, haven't you?" She instinctively grabbed hold of Lewis's hand, or rather, the one that wasn't in a cast. Cleo wasn't scared of her former rival, far from it. Lewis had made it very clear that Cleo was the only one for him, and Charlotte's concede had only made it official that there was to be no more tug-of-war for Lewis's affection. Cleo, Emma, and Rikki had been mulling it over all weekend; before getting her powers, Charlotte had hardly seemed the type to attack someone like that. True, as Lewis kept pointing at, he _had _surprised her, but still, had breaking his arm really been the correct response? In fact, how had she done it?

Rikki affirmed what the brunette had been asking. "Well, Charlotte broke his arm, Cleo. Did you forget that?"

"Little hard to," Lewis interjected, holding his cast up.

"So, when she gets here, I'm gonna find out why the hell she did that."

Lewis sighed. "Look, guys, when she gets here, let me talk to her, okay?"

"_What?!"_

Lewis smirked at the three's simultanious response. "Guys, did you see her when she walked into the cafe?" They all shook her heads. "She looked scared. Alone."

Cleo and Emma looked at each other guiltily, while Rikki just scowled. They had barely spared the former mermaid a second thought after she had lost her powers. For a while, they had almost forgotten she existed. Charlotte never seemed to talk or interact much in class, and outside of Cleo, Emma, and Rikki, it wasn't like she had many friends to begin with.

"Don't defend what she did," Rikki snapped. She refused to sympathize with the girl who more or less tried to destroy them all.

"I'm not defending her. I'm just saying, it's a little tough to break a bone. And I could feel her strength. It was incredible." He gave Cleo a reassuring kiss on the cheek to show that he didn't mean it like that, and continued. "What if something else is going on with her?"

The group sat in silence for a few minutes

Emma checked her watch. "It doesn't matter, we need to get to class." The others stood up, but Rikki didn't make a move.

"Emma, the world could end, and you would still be obsessed with getting to class on time. Just chill."

"You didn't do your homework either, did you?"

Rikki didn't bother answering.


	6. Now or Never

"I have to say, you're taking all this extremely well."

"Well, to be honest, I've had... experience with magic before."

"Are you a witch, like me?"

Charlotte shook her head and bit her lip. What she really wanted to ask had to be phrased carefully. "Listen, Willow, can you answer something for me?"

Willow nodded. "I can try."

"You've seen a lot of stuff, right?" Charlotte rubbed her neck nervously. "I mean, vampires, you said your ex-boyfriend is a werewolf. You and your girlfriend are witches."

"Yeah..."

"Have you guys ever come across something like mermaids? Or fairies or something?" She added the last bit hastily, trying to pass it off as a joke. Charlotte knew that she shouldn't be telling this to strangers, but she wasn't exactly spilling the beans, right? But maybe she could finally get some answers. All she had ever gotten in the way of answers before was the same 'it's magic, don't question it,' routine, but even magic had to come from somewhere, and who better to answer questions about magic than a witch?

Willow's eyes lit up at the question. "You know what, we haven't. I've seen trolls and demons. Our mayor turned into a giant snake once, Buffy defeated an actual god, but I haven't seen any mermaids. Not even in the books either." She grabbed onto Charlotte's arm excitedly, "Why? Have you seen one?"

Charlotte laughed, but even to her own ears it sounded incredibly forced. "No, of course not," she denied, "I just figured, you know, if all that could exist, why not those?"

They were nearing the school, and as if to answer her, there were Cleo, Emma, and Rikki. And just like she feared, Rikki's narrowed eyes were watching the entrance like a hawk. Charlotte ducked into the nearest empty classroom, Willow following with a confused look on her face.

Willow looked over to where Charlotte was staring. Sitting in the grass of the courtyard were three girls and a boy. Two of the girls were blonde, and the boy had an arm in a cast, the other girl was a brunette. One of the blondes looked more than a little pissed at the boy in the cast.

"Who are they, Charlotte?" She asked.

"Oh, um, we used to be... friends. The brunette is Cleo, the blonde girls are Emma and Rikki. The boy in the cast in Lewis." After a slight pause, she quietly added, "I accidentally broke his arm the other day."

"With your Slayer strength?"

Charlotte looked at the ground, ashamed. "It was an accident," she muttered.

Willow put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not blaming you. Could've happened to anyone with newfound supernatural strength."

"And now Rikki wants to kill me."

"What, is she his girlfriend or something?"

Charlotte shook her head. "No, that's Cleo. Rikki's just got a really bad temper." She took a breath, she had been putting this off long enough. "I'm gonna go apologize. I'll see you after school, okay Willow?"

Willow nodded. "Alright, I've got to call Buffy and see what's what anyway. I'll meet you at the house." They walked out the classroom together. "Good luck," Willow called back.

As the red-head walked out of sight, Charlotte wanted to call her back, to use her as a shield or something, and that's when Charlotte realized just how much she had changed. Before all of this, Charlotte would stand up for herself, fight for what she wanted. Now, she was acting like a coward. Well, she decided, not anymore. Just the other day, she had staked a vampire, she had saved someone life. If she could defeat a vampire that tried to literally kill her, why couldn't she just apologize for something she did wrong? They had no right to hold the past against her, she was a different person now. Resolve filled her, and Charlotte strode over to the four, who were all standing up to leave.

Rikki noticed her first, and her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to say something, but Charlotte quickly cut her off.

"I just wanted to apologize. Lewis, I'm sorry I broke your arm, it was an accident, I really didn't mean to. If there's anything I can do, let me know."

"It's okay, Charlotte, really, it's fine." He indicated his arm. "The doctor said it was a clean break, it should heal in no time."

"I'm glad to hear it." Charlotte smiled at the other girls. "See you guys in class."

As if on cue, the bell rang, and Charlotte walked off to first period, leaving the others confused.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," Lewis said, giving Cleo a quick kiss and running up to catch up to Charlotte.

"She's planning something," Rikki muttered, her hand twitching.

"Rikki, don't start," Emma groaned. "Charlotte's not plotting our demise. She just apologized. You ever think that maybe she's moved on?"

"I'm telling you, Emma, something's up. And did you see that girl she was with?"

"So she's got other friends, so what?" Cleo asked, walking toward class.

"I could feel magic practically radiating off of her. Don't tell me you guys didn't feel it."

Now that they thought about it, they had. The red-head that Charlotte had been with looked normal, but the magic she possessed had been fairly obvious.

"What if Charlotte told her our secret?" Rikki pressed.

"Rikki, stop it," Emma warned, "You're being paranoid-"

"And you're being too naive!"

"Guys!"

The two stopped their bickering at Cleo's shout. "Can we just go to class, and wait to hear what Lewis says before we make any assumptions?" She rubbed her eyes tiredly and marched into their class, leaving Emma and Rikki to follow, still glowering at each other.


	7. Sharing Secrets

As she walked away from the school, Willow pulled out her cell phone, quickly dialing Buffy's number. She and Dawn were still in California, looking for new Slayers. The team had all split up after defeating the First, and Willow had created new Slayers, and all over the world they were searching and finding them. Willow had opted for Australia, but not for the reasons everyone thought. When she had started scoping out for the new Slayers, she had felt something in this particular part of Australia.

Somewhere, off the coast of the town, Willow had felt an immense, concentrated amount of magic. Mako Island it was called, she had learned. It had an inactive volcano, but that wasn't what kept people away. That would be all the sharks that surrounded the island. When she was scouting for the girls, she had felt the magic, and of course volunteered to go to Australia. Willow didn't know why she hadn't told her friends, it wasn't like she was lying though, just omitting the details.

After a few rings, Buffy Summers answered,. "Hey, Will."

"Hi Buffy. How's it going back home?"

"Oh, it's fine, picked a few more girls. But this is gonna take forever, Wills, they're hard to convince." Willow heard the tiredness in her best friend's voice, even though she knew Buffy was trying her hardest to mask it. "How's it going with your girl?"

The night that Willow had met Charlotte and took back to her house, she had been sure to call Buffy about Charlotte's first accidental Slaying. Buffy had been surprised, but didn't think that it was a bad thing, hoping that it would make it easier to convince that the demons were real.

"Really well. After I explained about magic, she really believed me. Charlotte said that she's had experience with magic before, but wasn't a witch or anything. She had to go to school before she could explain more, though."

"Okay, that's good. Well, I've got to go, _this _girl's parents are convinced that we're part of a cult or something."

"Geez, good luck with that."

"Yeah, you too."

Willow hit the end button, and tucked her phone into her pocket. Now that that was done, she had about eight hours to kill. What better to do than to find out about Mako Island?

0x0x0x0x0x0

Charlotte sat at the cafeteria table, picking at her food. Truthfully, she wasn't that hungry, but she ate anyway, when suddenly a familiar blonde head came up to her.

"Hi, Charlotte."

She looked up warily at her ex-boyfriend. "Hey, Lewis. What's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to talk for a bit."

"About?"

Lewis smiled in a friendly manner. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. It's been a while since we talked."

"You mean ever since I tried to hurt the others, and ended up losing the best thing that's ever happened to me?" Charlotte didn't say it bitterly, rather in a matter-of-fact tone that said a lot more than she wanted. "You mean since then?

Lewis sighed. "Yeah. Since then." He indicated the seat in front of her. "Can I sit?"

"Won't that make Cleo upset?" She looked over to the others, who were seated a few tables away, just in time to see them hurriedly look away. "They wanted you to see if I was planning something, didn't they?" She opened her bag of chips and offered one to Lewis, who took it. "Not that I blame them or anything, I'm just wondering."

"No, they didn't. I'm just a little worried about you, Charlotte. I know these past few weeks can't have been easy for you..."

Under the table, Charlotte dug her nails into her palms nervously. She had wanted to talk to Lewis about this whole Slayer business, but now she wasn't so sure. Because if she told Lewis that she was suddenly a vampire-killing superhero, then he was sure to tell the others. And if they others knew, then they might see her as a threat or something. Who knew that being a mermaid would be simpler than what was going on right now?

"And you've just be really quiet lately."

"I've had a lot on my mind," she muttered when he paused. Charlotte looked up and saw genuine concern in his eyes. She wanted so badly to confide in him, to tell him that she needed help, that something incredibly scary was happening to her. What Charlotte really wanted was forgiveness, to be assured that what was happening was ao second chance to redeem herself. Her mouth opened, ready to spill her secrets, but instead what came out was, "Do you believe in vampires?"

Lewis looked startled, but quickly composed himself. "I'm sorry?"

"Vampires, Lewis," she repeated, "Demons, bad things under the bed. Do you believe in them?"

"Well, I suppose if mermaid exists, anything's possible. Why?"

Charlotte didn't even answer his question, instead just kept talking. She wanted to stop herself, but it was like her mouth wasn't even attached to her brain. "And what if those vampires were pure evil, and someone needed to fight them?" She leaned forward, whispering, "And let's say, hypothetically, that person was me?"

Lewis moved back a little, and Charlotte could tell that he was regretting this conversation. "What are you asking me, Charlotte?"

Charlotte leaned back in her seat, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "I guess I'm just asking if you trust me."

"Why are you asking me that?"

Not even realizing it, Charlotte held his hand, gently this time, her eyes boring into his. "Just answer the question, Lewis, please. I know I haven't done anything to earn it, but please trust that I'm okay now."

"I... I do."

Her heart fluttered happily, and Lewis quickly continued, "But something _is_ going on, Charlotte, isn't there?"

Charlotte snuck a look over at the trio, who weren't even bothering to be subtle about their stares, and quickly let go of Lewis's hand. "Yeah, there is."

"Well, that trust has to run both ways."

The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Charlotte quickly packed her stuff up. "Come over to my house tomorrow, okay, Lewis? You and the girls come over, and I'll explain everything, I swear."

She stuck out her hand and Lewis shook it, a smile one his face. Charlotte hoped that this could possibly bridge the gap between them all, assure them that she was on the level. With a slight nod, Charlotte broke away.

"Alright, tomorrow after school, don't forget," Charlotte waved to the girls and walked out the cafeteria. She hoped Willow wouldn't get mad about her wanting to tell about being a Slayer, but it certainly wasn't going to stop her.


	8. I'm Going Slightly Mad

It took Willow a couple hours to actually find a boat rental place, but by lunch she found herself on the way to Mako Island. It was a bit of a journey, and Willow spent the time wondering if this was a good idea. What if there was nothing about this island, and she had simply been mistaken? Or worse, what if she abosorbed the magic and went Dark Willow again? What if she fell off the wagon and became addicted again?

The scenarios raced through her mind, but she forced them out. She had become responsible with her magic, respected it. She would never go back to being Dark Willow, she wouldn't become addicted. Just to be on the safe side, though, Willow decided that she shouldn't spend too much time there.

With her mind on other things, it didn't seem to take her that long to get to the island. It looked a little spooky, but it didn't scare Willow. The magic around the place was coming off in waves, and Willow grew even more eager to explore the place. She quickly found a beach and parked the boat. Glad that she had worn her hiking boots, Willow started the trek through the forest.

It was a beautiful place, overgrown and left untouched by civilization. It fascinated Willow. She wasn't very far from the coast, but being here was like going back to a more wild time After about an hour of hiking, Willow heard the sound of running water, and after following the sound, found a small river surrounded by large rocks. Parched, Willow attempted to get down, only to lose her footing and fall down a narrow tunnel.

When her heart returned to its normal pace, Willow gathered her bearings. The tunnel looked to steep to simply climb back up, so it seemed her only option was to keep going through the cave that she had been diposited in. It was pretty well-worn, and there were a couple sets of footprints. Following the trail, she found something that stopped her in her tracks.

Willow had found herself in the cone of the volcano, through which she could see the sky. Right in front of her was a small pool right under the vocano opening. The water was a brilliant blue, different than the ocean, a little darker, but also... alive in a way that Willow couldn't describe. But that wasn't what caught Willow's attention. No, what she really noticed were the three girls sitting in the pool, long, golden tails floating out in front of them where their legs should be.


	9. The Flood Hits

Charlotte walked up to her door, shouting, "Willow? Are you here yet?"

"Who's Willow, darling?"

Charlotte nearly jumped a foot in the air at the sound of her mother's voice. "Mom! I thought you were on a business trip."

They hugged and Annette Watsford smiled. "Got home a day early. Who were you looking for?"

"Um, Willow. She's my..." Charlotte quickly searched her brain for a believable lie. "Tutor. She's my new tutor in... English."

Annette gasped in surprise. "Oh, Charlotte, I didn't know you were doing bad in English."

Of course she felt bad for lying to mother, but she had already lied about being a mermaid, why not continue to lie about being a vampire Slayer?

"No, I'm not doing bad, she's just tutoring me before I get bad," Charlotte laughed as convincingly as she could, passing it off as a joke.

Thankfully, her mother's ringing phone prevented any more questions, and Charlotte quickly ran to her room. She grabbed her phone and dialed Willow's number, but only got her voicemail.

_"Hi, this is Willow, I'm sorry I'm missed your call, but if you leave your name and number I'll make sure to call you back."_

"Willow, it's Charlotte. Where are you? I'm at home, I thought you'd be here too." She kept her voice low, but the urgency was very prominent. "Look, just call me when you get this-"

"Charlotte! Can you come down here, please?"

"Oh yeah, and my mom's home too," she quickly added, "She doesn't know about this whole 'Slayer' business and I'd rather she didn't."

XOXOXOXOXOX

On the shores of Mako Island, Willow's phone rang out unanswered in her abandoned boat. In the Moon Pool, however, she was still gaping at the sight before her.

She had seen a lot of things in the nearly ten years she had spent with Buffy and the Scooby Gang. Trolls, vengenance demons, gods from other dimensions, heck, the very first evil. But it never crossed her mind that mermaids might be real. She certainly did not expect that the three girls that Charlotte had pointed out just that moning to have long, orange fish tails.

"Okay, guys," one began, Rikki, Willow remembered. "Are we going to Charlotte's house tomorrow, yes or no?"

"I think we should," Emma said, "Lewis said that she had something to tell us."

"Yeah, I don't see why not," Cleo added.

Was Charlotte going to tell them about her being a Slayer? Did Charlotte know about these three being mermaids? She _had_ asked if they were real, and she had said that the three in front of her were friends. Willow slowly crept back, careful not to make a noise so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. This had gotten way too bizarre. Willow had only planned on telling Charlotte about her Slayer birthright and convincing her mother to let Charlotte come back with her. But now there was magic islands and mermaids that Willow knew had had legs that morning.

She whispered a quick spell at the bottom of the tunnel where she had fallen in, and quickly found herself at the top, on the rocks. She started running to the beach, anxious to get back to Charlotte's house.


	10. Good Vibrations

"What's up, Mom?" Charlotte asked as she walked downstairs.

"Charlotte," her mother began, "I'm so sorry, but something is going on with the resturant, will you be okay for an hour or two?"

"Of course. What's wrong?"

Her mother slipped her shoes back on and grabbed her purse. "I'm not sure, but there's an emergency of some kind going on." Her mother's haggard voice worried Charlotte, but hopefully Willow was on her way, and although Annette knew about her, Charlotte desperately wanted to keep the two apart. She knew eventually she'd need to come clean, after all vampire killing might be a little harder to hide than growing a tail, but the longer she held off on that, the easier life might be.

Before she knew it, Charlotte was alone in her house again, and her mother's car was leaving the driveway. She sighed a little and went upstairs to start her homework while she waited for Willow to come back.

XOXOXO

Half an hour later, Charlotte was done with her homework and was now instead searching the internet of any mention of a Slayer. Surprisingly, she found very little, but it didn't matter, because there was a knocking at her front door.

"Coming!" Charlotte yelled down, closing the tab and shutting her computer down. To her relief it was Willow herself at the door. She opened it, asking, "Where were you, Willow?"

She didn't even bother answering. "Charlotte, be honest with me: When you asked about mermaids, was it because you knew some personally?"

Charlotte felt her heart stop. "Wh-what are you talking about? Mermaids aren't real, you said so yourself, that's ridiculous-"

"Really?" Willow asked angrily. "Because I was just at Mako Island and I saw your old friends with giant fins! Now, tell me: How is that possible?"

Charlotte shrunk back from the witch's intense stare. Her mind was racing with lies, explanations, the truth. Should she tell Willow about the magic of Mako? Should she go ahead and violate their trust when all she wanted was to mend their relationship?

"I... I can't tell you," Charlotte finally murmured.

"And why not?"

"Because I promised I wouldn't," she explained and Willow relaxed a little. "It's a long story, and I'm not really in the best of light." Charlotte looked away, a little ashamed. "Look, they're coming over tomorrow, they can explain it to you if they want." Charlotte rubbed the back of her neck, suddenly very tired. "Just do me a favor, and tell them that I had nothing to do with you finding out."

Willow nodded. "Okay, no problem."

Charlotte yawned, suddenly very exhausted. "It's been a crazy day, Willow. I'm gonna hit the hay. There's a guest room upstairs, if you wanna sleep there."

"Thank you, Charlotte."

She started for the stairs, but Willow stopped her. "Charlotte, what exactly did you do?"

Charlotte just looked back. "I was given the same gift as them, but I wasn't responsible with it, I didn't deserve my gift. So I lost it." She purposely stayed vague, and went up the stairs to her room before Willow had the chance to ask anymore.


End file.
